NPL Previews: Mariners Academy host North Shore Mariners

It will be a festival of football all Pluim Park this Saturday when we host the North Shore Mariners. It all starts at 9am with the juniors – first grade kick-off at 4pm & entry is FREE! Our girls play away to UNSWFC at Valentine Sports Park on Sunday.

Central Coast Mariners Academy Men vs. North Shore Mariners

The PS4 NPL2 match of the round this weekend really picks itself. A celebration of Mariners football between the Central Coast and the North Shore.

The Central Coast Mariners Academy produced one of the results of the season last weekend, thumping league leaders, Mt Druitt, by four goals to one. The Mariners Academy are one of only two teams in the NPL Men’s top three leagues yet to taste defeat so far, this season.

Finding a way to win when a draw looks inevitable has become a specialty for North Shore in recent weeks. In two matches against Mounties and the Northern Tigers, North Shore have stolen all three points with last minute goals.

The flying start to the competition for all Mariners Academy teams, sees the club sit in first place on the PS4 NPL 2 Club Championship.

We caught up with Will Vazquez ahead of the clash.

“Last weekend was a performance that we were very pleased with as an entire unit,” Vazquez said. “In particular the way that the group responded after two early setbacks [missed penalty and conceding a goal] showed that the players have developed some nice resilience during the testing period over the past month.

“As our objective is to prepare players for first team football, these characteristics are essential and a key focus of ours in our day-to-day-work.

“This weekend provides another challenge in achieving consistency in our performance against an opponent who will provide a huge amount of pressure. North Shore Mariners are a very effective side who have already shown their capacity throughout the year with some great football, so the group has quickly shifted our focus to overcoming this challenge,” Vazquez said.

A win on the road could see our girls climb into second spot and Barrett says his side will need to be at their best to claim three points.

“UNSW will be definitely up for the challenge this weekend,” Barrett said. “I am preparing my team for a tough contest. They have only lost three matches and from all reports are a hard team to beat. The competition is really proving that to have any success we have to be at our very best each weekend and this match will be no different.

“The past few results have been built off our work ethic both on and off the park. The players will tell you we work hard for everything it’s the only way and the proof has been the season thus far but there is such a long way to go.

“I continue to push the group each week, adding to our playing style and always demand best standards in what we do. Credit to the squad so far, they continue to step up but I believe we have even more to offer. I know they want to continue to improve so as long as that mentality stays that way we will continue to take steps forward in our performance”

“All players are currently contributing and that includes players coming off the bench,” Barrett said.